Remembering Mother Teresa on her 26th death anniversary

Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa, born as Anjeze Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia, on August 26, 1910, passed away on this day in 1997 in Calcutta (now Kolkata) at the age of 87.

On September 5, 2023, we observe the 26th anniversary of the passing of the Roman Catholic nun who dedicated her life to serving the underprivileged, orphaned, sick, dying, and destitute through her Missionaries of Charity. The International Day of Charity falls on this day, marking the anniversary of Mother Teresa's passing.

On this occasion, we reflect on a few impactful narratives from her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.

Mother Teresa, speaking in front of a large audience during her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech on December 11, 1979 in Oslo, Norway, conveyed her message of compassion and generosity by recounting poignant anecdotes from what she had witnessed in life. She shed light on the struggles of the impoverished, and advocated strongly for their care and support.

During her speech, Mother Teresa shared a moving story about a homeless girl to highlight the terrible realities of hunger that many people must deal with.

"Sometime ago, this to you will sound very strange, but I brought a girl child from the street, and I could see in the face of the child that the child was hungry. God knows how many days that she had not eaten. So I give her a piece of bread. And then, the little one started eating the bread crumb by crumb. And I said to the child, eat the bread, eat the bread. And she looked at me and said, "I am afraid to eat the bread because I’m afraid when it is finished I will be hungry again. This is a reality," Mother Teresa said recounting the emotional incident she experienced.

Mother Teresa's concern for the hungry was evident in how deeply her personal interactions with them touched her. She was moved when she came across those who were experiencing actual physical hunger. This moving narrative provides a genuine message about the profound problems associated with poverty and food scarcity.

Also in her speech, Mother Teresa shared an exceptional experience with a Hindu family, which had the remarkable quality of compassion and selflessness in the face of personal adversity.

She narrated, "One evening a gentleman came to our house and said, there is a Hindu family and the eight children have not eaten for a long time. Do something for them. And I took rice and I went immediately, and there was this mother, those little ones’ faces, shining eyes from sheer hunger. She took the rice from my hand, she divided into two and she went out. When she came back, I asked her, where did you go? What did you do? And one answer she gave me - They are hungry also. She knew that the next door neighbour, a Muslim family, was hungry". "What surprised me most, not that she gave the rice, but what surprised me most, that in her suffering, in her hunger, she knew that somebody else was hungry, and she had the courage to share, share the love."

Mother Teresa emphasised that people have the ability to recognise and respond to the pain of others even in the midst of their own misery and hunger. Even though both families were divided by their religious views, the story demonstrates the kindness that may arise even among those who are in poverty.